Thankful For

Any time that I get caught up in caring too much about things, physical things like clothes or furniture or even my garden, I try to remind myself that none of that, while enjoyable, is as important as the people in our lives, and the ones who used to be in our lives but have died. I'm thankful for all the memories I have of those who have been a big part of my life.  I've been pretty fortunate to have parents who lived into their 80s and 90s and I had a good relationship with each. I've had good friends who lived long lives, too, but are gone now, some of them only recently.

My sweet sister Beth left us just a year ago and is still intensely missed.

Max, our son, of course, died much too young and I miss him every day. When we miss that person who is gone, sometimes there is a food memory that keeps them close.

Janna, a niece by marriage and a wonderful woman also left us much too soon due to cancer. She was a terrific cook and baker and if she hadn't live in southern CA most of the time I knew her I think we might have been closer. She did give me her recipe for biscotti and I enjoy making them at this time of year. They make wonderful Christmas gifts!

My Mom was also a fantastic cook and baker. I cherish her crescent cookie recipe. She baked them almost every year and sent them around the country to her scattered children. In the photo at the top she is finishing the baked cookies with a shower of powdered sugar.

Both recipes rely on nuts, so these are not the recipes for family or friends with nut allergies, but for everyone else I suspect that they will be one of the most memorable treats they might receive for Christmas. The crescent cookies recipe can be found HERE. There are other Christmas cookies, too.

Janna's Almond Biscotti

1 cup whole almonds
1 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Toast the almonds 10-15 minutes in a 350 degree F. oven. Let cool.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs, adding eggs one at a time and beating well after each addition. Add almond extract with the last egg. Scrape sides and beater(s) as needed.

In another bowl stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and whole, toasted, nuts. Add this dry mixture to the egg mixture on low speed. Let mixer combine them until dough forms.

On a greased 12" x 15" baking sheet, use well-floured hands to pat dough into 2 flat loaves, about 3/4" thick.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven about 20 minutes, until browned at edges and springy to the touch. Let the loaves cool on the sheet until cool, then cut on the diagonal into long 1/2" slices.

Arrange slices on the baking sheet close together with a cut side down. Return baking sheet to oven and bake at 350 degrees F. until cookies are brown, 15-18 minutes longer.

Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely. Serve or store airtight. These can be frozen for 3-6 months, too.

A Snowy Cookie

Crescent cookies are a traditional holiday cookie, usually a gift from my Mom, a seminal part of the Christmas celebrations food-wise. These tender, delicate cookies combine lots of butter with finely ground toasted pecans and some sugar, plus a few other ingredients. They are hand formed into logs, then the ends are tapered and curved in to create a shape like a crescent moon. Once baked they get a snowy drift of confectioners' sugar on top. Although they are fine by themselves, they go really well with a hot cup or tea or coffee.

I've just returned home from my Mom's. She is recovering nicely from major surgery and we had some fine times with conversation and tea. Due to her illness the crescent cookies, usually baked in quantity, were almost missing this Christmas. I put together some crescent dough a few days after I arrived but there was no time to shape and bake them. One chilly day this week we sat together at the dining room table and shaped some,

then warmed up the kitchen (plus made it smell SOOO good) by baking a few dozen crescents. Mom added the powdered sugar to the first ones.


They were excellent with tea and it was great fun to bake with Mom.

If you want to make some yourself here is the family recipe. They are very similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies but I like the way the crescent shape sits at the side of the saucer if you have your tea in a fancy tea cup with saucer.

The recipe may have come from somewhere else originally, but I got my copy from my Mom and reprinted it in Family Food, 1994.

Crescent Cookies

1 ½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
3 cups flour
1 ½ - 2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cream butter, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Chill. Shape into 1 inch by 3 inch crescents on a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes in a preheated 300 degree F oven. Cool. Roll in confectioners’ sugar and store airtight. Makes 4 dozen.

To prepare in a food processor: Put the butter, cut into chunks in the bowl of the processor. With metal blade, cream butter on high about half a minute. Add rest of ingredients and process until a ball of dough forms. Chill. Continue as described above.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we had SNOW while I was there. Yesterday morning it snowed for about an hour and a half. Since it has only snowed twice since I moved to California, it was fun to see the white stuff coming down, especially since it wasn't supposed to accumulate very much. Here are a couple of photos I took once it stopped:

Baking Christmas Cookies - Crescent Cookies

Every year for the last little while my Mom has baked dozens and dozens of her famous Crescent Cookies and shipped a tin to each of her children's families at Christmas. These rich morsels contain lots of butter, finely chopped pecans, and are rolled in confectioner's (icing) sugar. Each one sits in a muffin paper. Only a few break during shipping, so there are plenty for the cookie tray and some to go with a restorative cup of tea.

This year Thanksgiving was too late. Crescent Cookies will have to be baked at home. Mom is gearing up for Christmas visitors and for making the Lane Cake, so she really doesn't have the time or energy this year for baking so many Crescent Cookies.

Even if you are not an official member of my family, you can start your own holiday tradition by baking a batch (or more...they make great gifts!) of these delicious cookies. They are simplicity itself to make.The recipe may have come from somewhere else originally, but I got my copy from my Mom and reprinted it in Family Food, 1994.

Crescent Cookies

1 ½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
3 cups flour
1 ½ - 2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cream butter, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Chill. Shape into 1 inch by 3 inch crescents on a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes in a preheated 300 degree F oven. Cool. Roll in confectioners’ sugar and store airtight. Makes 4 dozen.

To prepare in a food processor: Put the butter, cut into chunks in the bowl of the processor. With metal blade, cream butter on high about half a minute. Add rest of ingredients and process until a ball of dough forms. Chill. Continue as described above.